Rasmussen poll shows Obama 42%, GOP 46%

A Rasmussen poll out today should give hope to the potential GOP candidates and strike some concern into President Obama’s 2012 campaign. The poll shows any unnamed Republican candidate beating President Obama in a hypothetical match up by 4 percentage points.

A generic Republican candidate now holds a four-point lead over President Obama in a hypothetical 2012 election matchup. It’s the fifth week in a row that the GOP candidate has been ahead and the widest gap between the candidates to date.

The latest Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds a generic Republican candidate earns support from 46% of Likely U.S. Voters, while the president picks up 42% of the vote. Three percent (3%) prefer some other candidate, and nine percent (9%) are undecided.

Last week, the Republican held a 45% to 43% advantage. In weekly surveys since the beginning of May, support for Obama has ranged from 42% to 45%, while the Republican has earned 43% to 46% of the vote. Rasmussen Reports will provide new data on this generic matchup each week until the field of prospective Republican nominees narrows to a few serious contenders.

Republicans also hold a seven-point lead over Democrats on the Generic Congressional Ballot for the week ending Sunday, June 26. Republicans have led on this ballot every week since June 2009.

Of course, these “generic” type polls would give President Obama a few more points if an actual name was inserted on the GOP side. Still, these numbers are good news for the GOP and show that even now, the discontent among voters of all stripes is palpable.

Couple this poll with a recent finding from Marist showing that 43% of registered voters nationwide report they plan to vote against President Obama in 2012:

Looking to 2012, 43% of registered voters nationwide report they plan to vote against President Obama in 2012. This compares with 36% who say they definitely plan to support him. A notable 21% are unsure. Little has changed on this question since McClatchy-Marist last reported it in April. At that time, 44% reported they planned to back someone else while 37% said they planned to vote for the president. 18%, at the time, were unsure.

Independents play a key role in Obama’s re-election bid. 43% say they would vote against Mr. Obama in 2012 while 29% are securely in his corner. Nearly three in ten independent voters — 28% — are unsure. The president has failed to make inroads with these all-important voters. In McClatchy-Marist’s previous survey, 47% of independents reported they would not support the president while 32% said they would cast their ballot for Mr. Obama. 21% were unsure.

Once again, bad news for President Obama, good news for the GOP field.

Nate Ashworth is the Founder and Editor-In-Chief of Election Central. He's been blogging elections and politics for almost a decade. He started covering the 2008 Presidential Election which turned into a full-time political blog in 2012 and 2016.